Gary, you are touching on an interesting point here. I would suggest one of the big failures of any
of the surround formats is that they didn't focus on cars! What a natural place for surround sound,
there are already speakers all around the space and a person is _CONFINED_ to a theoretical sweet
spot (ie the driver's seat). I think the home is an unnatural fit for surround formats, except in
the context of home theater setups, in most cases. Just putting two speakers in a home was a battle
against the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor), but the rise of bookshelf speakers really helped win that
one. Very few homes have a space where surround speakers make sense or are acceptable to all members
of the household. A dedicated video room is something different, but even there, rarely is there
room for 5 like-sized full-range speakers needed for good reproduction of 5.1 SACD or DVD-Audio.
I wonder if the expensively made and no-profit surround masters from ill-fated SACD or DVD-A
releases can be repurposed for cars. Many luxury cars now come with hard drives and multi-format
sound systems and even a WIFI link to the home network in some cases, why not use something like a
Dolby Digital format from the hard drive?
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Powell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 11:33 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] New LoC Recording Registry
>I don't think it's as much that the demonstration records for 5.1 weren't good (Though I heard few
>that were truly convincing.) as much as stereo is like MP3. There are better options out there, but
>at the end of the day I think there is a certain degree of economics for the amount of time, work,
>and money they are willing to put into their sound systems.
>
> People have stereo in their cars, MP3 players, CD players, etc. just the same as MP3 is a standard
> that caught on in the popular language and is used by a sizable amount of gadgets. Just as with
> people being disinterested in re-ripping their CDs into FLAC and getting different software to
> make it happen because it sounds better, people aren't necessarily willing to shell out the extra
> hundreds of dollars for a 5.1 receiver, more speakers, more wire, and more work to set it up when
> they already can listen to the music they like the way they probably heard it originally and liked
> it, through their car's FM radio, on MTV, at a concert, or on a friend's stereo.
>
> While I think demonstration records may have some minor part in the matter, I think it's just a
> matter of priority. When people are building a new entertainment system, 5.1 may be an option, but
> most people tend to hold on to what they have, think the demo units are too expensive, or would
> rather shell out the extra cash toward a couple extra inches of television screen space.
>
> Though I wasn't alive for Quadraphonic sound, I would venture to say a similar law of economics
> comes into play, especially since it was a newer technology and, thus, more expensive.
>
> -GP
>
> Bob Olhsson wrote:
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From Tom Fine: The Command records, specifically "Persuasive Percussion," "Provocative
>>> Percussion," "Big Band Bossa
>>> Nova," and "Stereo/35mm" all charted, in fact Persuasive was at the top
>>> of the Billboard stereo
>>> album charts for weeks and weeks.
>>
>> Those along with the Audio Fidelity Dukes of Dixieland recordings and some of RCA's Boston Pops
>> titles were the very first stereo records many of my friends and I ever heard. They stand up
>> remarkably well even today. I have serious doubts that anybody would have bought stereo
>> phonographs without hearing those "demonstration records" in the stores. I also think that Quad
>> and 5.1 music are the colossal commercial failures that they have been entirely because of the
>> lack of convincing demonstration recordings being available at the time most people got their
>> first exposure to the new formats.
>>
>> Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
>> Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
>> Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
>> 615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com http://www.thewombforums.com
>>
>
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